I'm even old enough to remember when they first came out; they were so much better than the old original bake-it-yourself hockey pucks they replaced .. which I also remember first hitting the market .. that we were all giddy over them. But ready-made biscuits have come a long way, since then. A long way.

Nowadays you can buy biscuits that come out of the oven as good as you can make at home. You know .. a little dusty with flour on the outside, and all. And, thinking of that, I remarked to Peg:

"You know, these biscuits used to be state-of-the-art."

Peg laughed, and said she agreed with me, and I then said "It just keeps gettin' better...". And that, as Jerry Clower used to say, "Flung a cravin' on me".

Namely, to write about that last statement.

Last Wednesday, we were reading and talking our way through Philippians, and got into a fairly lengthy discussion over Verse 21 of Chapter 1. The one where Paul says "For me, living is Christ and dying is gain" (HCSB style). We talked about that, and the plain fact that I have a real preference to continue breathing, for now. Everybody else confessed the same thing, and I observed that the verse was a lot closer to being true in my life, now, than it was 30 years ago. Sure, I've always confessed the Bible is true, and that's how Paul really did feel about it, but I wondered aloud how many folks could really say that same thing, and mean it.

I then observed that Paul's statement reflected how he truly felt inside, and asked the class if they'd like to have that same feeling. If they'd like to have that same closeness to Christ that Paul did (and we discussed how he met Jesus, etc etc).

To a man, they said they'd like that, too.

Then we turned to whether God wants us there, too. No doubt about that, so we came to the conclusion that, if we desire that sort of closeness to Jesus, that God will help us to get there.

Then I got to thinking about life. Peg and I stopped going to the Caribbean on our annual anniversary/birthday trip, in 2006. We'd gone away for several years, and discovered that we'd really rather stay home, than go someplace we'd be glad to be for a week. And then be glad to go home! But .. that year .. we went to the SBC Annual Meeting, and every year since (except 2010). And, we really enjoyed those trips; they had purpose beyond just going someplace nice.

And, as it developed, the purpose turned out to have real spiritual connotations. My last blog detailed some of that stuff.

As we've gotten older, the glitz and glam of the world really has faded in importance. I don't care whether I ever have another new car, and when it comes to housing, we now think smaller instead of bigger. Even that lifelong dream of having a Ferrari (since I was 13...) is of no importance any more. But the Spiritual is another matter entirely.

That's the only thing that's really fascinating any more. It is, honestly, the only thing of which I have never tired. It's simply never gotten old. In fact, it just keeps getting better.

Couple those two thoughts, and voila .... life itself just keeps getting better and better. And I have no reason to believe the ultimate betterment won't come when we are absent from the body, and present with the Lord.

Paul had it right. I just wish I'd wanted the same thing he had, years before it ever even occurred to me.